| Design
Approach
Two
takes place shortly after WWII in the basement flat of Rabbi Chaim
Levi, a piano teacher and survivor of the camps. A young woman
arrives to take Hebrew lessons. Their conversation is continually
interrupted by a passing train. This is one of the devices the
playwright uses to explore the breakdown of communication between
people. To make the moments even more effective, he asks that
the passing train also affect the light entering through the window
to create a disturbing stroboscopic effect.
We
approached the play as an exploration of the good and evil that
exists in all human beings. The interplay between light and shadow
in b/w photography and the contrast between black and white in
German Expressionist woodcuts were important influences on my
design work. The setting provides the dark, while the lighting
literally provides the light. We used the blackness of the black
box space, and I provided translucent masking to allow the actors
to cast shadows on the walls as they entered from behind and above
(to create the sense of basement).The lighting designer and I
worked closely to develop ways of creating shadow and to create
the lighting effect of the passing train.
These are also characters with psychological barriers. The arrangement
of objects on the stage provides the director with physical barriers
to mirror the psychological realities of these characters. In
entering the space or moving across it, its almost impossible
to move in a straight line. Each of the characters has discovered
that the same is true of life.
©
2003 by Gion DeFrancesco |
